Introduction to Anatomy

What is ANATOMY?
 Anatomy is the science of the structure and
function of the body.
 Clinical anatomy is the study of the
macroscopic structure and function of the body as
it relates to the practice of medicine and other
health sciences.
 Basic anatomy is the study of the minimal
amount of anatomy consistent with the
understanding of the overall structure and
function of the body.
Why do you have to study anatomy?
 65-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department complaining
of the sudden onset of a severe crushing pain over the front of the chest
spreading down the left arm and up into the neck and jaw.
 On questioning, he said that he had had several attacks of pain before and
that they had always occurred when he was climbing stairs or digging in the
garden. Previously, he found that the discomfort disappeared with rest after
about 5 minutes. On this occasion, the pain was more severe and had
occurred spontaneously while he was sitting in a chair; the pain had not
disappeared.
 The initial episodes of pain were angina, a form of cardiac pain that occurs
on exertion and disappears on rest; it is caused by narrowing of the
coronary arteries so that the cardiac muscle has insufficient blood. The
patient has now experienced myocardial infarction, in which the coronary
blood flow is suddenly reduced or stopped and the cardiac muscle
degenerates or dies. Myocardial infarction is the major cause of death in
industrialized nations.
 Clearly, knowledge of the blood supply to the heart and the
arrangement of the coronary arteries is of paramount importance in
making the diagnosis and treating this patient.
 Objectives of this class today
 It is essential that you understand the terms used for
describing the structure and function of different
regions of gross anatomy.
 Without these terms, it is impossible to describe
in a meaningful way the composition of the body.
 Moreover, the physician needs these terms so that
anatomic abnormalities found on clinical examination of
a patient can be accurately recorded.
 This chapter also introduces some of the basic
structures that compose the body, such as skin, fascia,
muscles, bones, and blood vessels.
 How to study anatomy?
 The study of anatomy requires a clinical
vocabulary that defines position, movements,
relationships, and planes of reference, as well as
the systems of the human body
 The study of anatomy can be by
◦ body region: upper limb, lower limb, thorax, abdomen,
head & neck
◦ or by body organ systems: skin, skeletal system,
muscular, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, nervous,
endocrine, gastrointestinal, urinary, reproductive systems
TERMINOLOGY
 Do I have to study terminology?
 It is important for medical personnel to have a sound
knowledge and understanding of the basic anatomic
terms.
 With the aid of a medical dictionary, you will find that
understanding anatomic terminology greatly assists you in
the learning process.
 The accurate use of anatomic terms by medical personnel
enables them to communicate with their colleagues both
nationally and internationally.
 Without anatomic terms, one cannot accurately discuss
or record the abnormal functions of joints, the actions of
muscles, the alteration of position of organs, or the exact
location of swellings or tumors.
 Anatomical Position
 By convention, anatomical descriptions of the
human body are based on a person in the
anatomical position:

 Standing erect and facing forward

 Arms hanging at the sides with palms facing
forward
 Legs placed together with feet facing forward
Anatomical
position:
Terms of Relationship and Body
Planes
 Anatomical descriptions often are
referenced to one or more of 3 distinct
body planes
1. Sagittal plane
2. Frontal (coronal) plane
3. Transverse (axial) plane
 3 body planes
1. Sagittal plane: vertical plane that divides the
body into equal right and left halves (median or
mid-sagittal plane) or a plane parallel to the median
sagittal plane that divides the body into unequal
right and left portions
2. Coronal Planes
These planes are imaginary vertical planes at right
angles to the median plane
3. Horizontal, or Transverse, Planes
These planes are at right angles to both the
The 3
body
planes:
 1. Median Sagittal Plane
 This is a vertical plane passing through the center of
the body, dividing it into equal right and left halves.
 Planes situated to one or the other side of
the median plane and parallel to it are termed
paramedian.
 A structure situated nearer to the median plane of the
body than another is said to be medial to the other.
 Similarly, a structure that lies farther away from the
median plane than another is said to be lateral to the
other.
2. Frontal (coronal) plane: a vertical plane that
divides the body into anterior and posterior
portions (equal or unequal); this plane is at right
angles to the median sagittal plane
3. Transverse (axial) plane: horizontal plane that
divides the body into superior and inferior
portions (equal or unequal) and is at right angles
to both the median sagittal and frontal planes
(sometimes called cross sections)
Terms of
relationship:
 The terms anterior and posterior are
used to indicate the front and back of the
body, respectively
 To describe the relationship of two
structures, one is said to be anterior or
posterior to the other insofar as it is
closer to the anterior or posterior body
surface.
 In describing the hand, the terms palmar and
dorsal
surfaces are used in place of anterior and
posterior,
 and in describing the foot, the terms plantar and
dorsal surfaces are used instead of lower and
upper surfaces
 The terms proximal and distal describe the
relative distances from the roots of the limbs;
 for example, the arm is proximal to the forearm
 and the hand is distal to the forearm.
 The terms superficial and deep denote the
relative distances of structures from the surface of
the body,
 and the terms superior and inferior denote
levels relatively high or low with reference to the
upper and lower ends of the body.
 The terms internal and external are used to
describe the relative distance of a structure from
the center of an organ or cavity;
 for example, the internal carotid artery is found
inside the cranial cavity and the external carotid
artery is found outside the cranial cavity.
 The term ipsilateral refers to the same side of
the body;
 for example, the left hand and the left foot are
ipsilateral.

 Contralateral refers to opposite sides of the

body;
 For example, the left biceps brachii muscle and
the right rectus femoris muscle are contralateral.
 The supine position of the body is lying on
the back.

 The prone position is lying face downward.

Movements
 A site where two or more bones come
together is known as a joint.
 Some joints have no movement (sutures
of the skull),
 some have only slight movement
(superior tibiofiular joint),
 and some are freely movable (shoulder
joint).
Movements
 Body movements usually occur at the
joints where two or more bones or
cartilages articulate with one another.
 Muscles act on joints to accomplish these
movements and may be described as
follows:
 “The biceps muscle flexes the forearm at
the elbow.”
 Flexion is a movement that takes place in a sagittal
plane.
 For example, flexion of the elbow joint approximates
the anterior surface of the forearm to the anterior
surface of the arm.
 It is usually an anterior movement, but it is
occasionally posterior, as in the case of the knee joint
 Extension means straightening the joint and usually
takes place in a posterior direction
 Lateral flexion is a movement of the trunk in the
Flexion of
shoulder &
hip joints:
Flexion of shoulder, elbow & wrist joints
Flexion of elbow & knee joints
Note the difference between flexion of the
elbow and that of the knee.
 Abduction is a movement of a limb away from
the midline of the body in the coronal plane
 Adduction is a movement of a limb toward the
body in the coronal plane
 In the fingers and toes, abduction is applied to the
spreading of these structures
 and adduction is applied to the drawing together
of these structures
 The movements of the thumb are a little more
complicated
 Rotation is the term applied to the
movement of a part of the body around
its long axis.
 Medial rotation is the movement that
results in the anterior surface of the part
facing medially.
 Lateral rotation is the movement that
results in the anterior surface of the part
facing laterally.
 Pronation of the forearm is a medial
rotation of the forearm in such a manner that
the palm of the hand faces posteriorly
 Supination of the forearm is a lateral
rotation of the forearm from the pronated
position so that the palm of the hand comes
to face anteriorly

[KINGS PRONATE, BEGGARS SUPINATE]

 Circumduction is the combination in sequence
of the movements of
◦ flexion,
◦ extension,
◦ abduction,
◦ and adduction
 Inversion is the movement of the foot
so that the sole faces in a medial direction
 Eversion is the opposite movement of
the foot so that the sole faces in a lateral
direction
 Protraction is to move forward;
 retraction is to move backward
 (used to describe the forward and backward
movement of the jaw at the
temporomandibular joints).
 Anatomical Variability
 The human body is remarkably complex and remarkably
consistent anatomically,
 but normal variations do exist, often related to size,
gender, age, number, shape, and attachment.
 Variations are particularly common in the following
structures:
◦ Bones
◦ Muscles
◦ Organs
◦ Arteries
◦ Veins
 Variations in..
 Bones: fine features of bones (processes, spines, articular
surfaces) may be variable depending on the forces working
on that bone
 Muscles: vary with size and fine details of their
attachments (it is better to learn their actions and general
attachments rather than focus on detailed exceptions)
 Organs: the size and shape of some organs will vary
depending on their normal physiology or
pathophysiological changes that have occurred previously
 Arteries: while surprisingly consistent, some variation in
the branching patterns is seen
 Veins: while consistent, variations in veins, especially in
their size and number, are not uncommon and often can be
traced to their complex embryologic development
Thank you all 
Next topic: Skin & Skeletal System on 28 Nov 2014
(09:00-11:00 am)